COMMENT OF THE DAY: IT’S NOT WHETHER YOU WIN OR LOSE, IT’S HOW YOU PROLONG THE GAME 
“I disagree: The residents won this battle. They delayed this project into one of the worst recessions this city has ever seen. I doubt this gets built now — and even if it does, they paid lawyers to let them keep their neighborhood the same for 10 years . . .” [htownproud, commenting on Ashby Highrise Neighbors Lose Appeal: No Payment for Damages by an Unbuilt Project] Photo of Stop Ashby Highrise signs in 2009: Swamplot inbox
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Here are some of the plans the Harris County commissioners looked over this week as they reviewed the engineering study for the proposal to raise the Astrodome’s below-grade floor and stick a parking garage beneath it. The view above shows an entrance ramp for cars from the east, with a service ramp running up from the southwest; NRG Stadium is shown peeking in on the scene from the left.
Got questions about the plan, or about anything else Dome-related? Someone claiming to be involved with the project is now taking inquiries from all comers over on Reddit. The thread started up yesterday and was still active this morning; topics addressed so far have included how the latest proposal would be funded, the feasibility of that spiral-ey skeletonized park idea, and the surprising number of people who have suggested turning the Dome into an indoor skiing venue.
The poster says they’ll try to keep checking back to answer new questions. While you wait, have a look at more views of the proposed changes to the structure — here’s what the ground-level park on Level 3 might look like, with pedestrian entrances on all 4 sides:
Park and Parking Plans
Today’s Swamplot sponsor is Houston’s own Central Bank. Thank you for the continued support of this site!
Central Bank has 4 (central) Houston branches available to meet your business or personal needs: in Midtown, the Heights, West Houston, and Post Oak Place.
Central Bank believes that change is essential to its success; the company actively pursues the latest in service, technology, and products. Central Bank aims to know its customers personally and to be their primary business and personal financial resource. The bank’s staff values relationships and strives to be available when you need them.
To learn more about how Central Bank can meet your banking needs, please call any of the following Senior Vice Presidents: Kenny Beard, at 832.485.2376;Bonnie Purvis, at 832.485.2354; Gary Noble, at 832.485.2366; or Ryan Tillman, at 832.485.2307. You can also find out more on the bank’s website.
Thinking hard about becoming a Swamplot sponsor? You’ll want to read this.Â
Sponsor of the Day
Texas’s Fourteenth Court of Appeals overturned part of the previous decision on the Ashby Highrise case yesterday, declaring that no, the developers of 1717 Bissonnet don’t have to pay the tower’s would-be neighbors $1.2 million as compensation for property value losses. Nor do the highrise planners have to cover for all those legal fees incurred by the various stages of the case — the homeowners are back on the hook for those as well, along with all costs incurred by the appeal.
The judges declared that even if the property values in the nearby homes did decrease, and even if that decrease was because of the proposal for the highrise, the homeowners can’t ask for compensation for property value drops caused by mere plans for a future “nuisance” — damages can only be awarded after said “nuisance” actually exists.
Potential Appeal
- Houston’s 10 Largest Office Leases from the Second Quarter [HBJ]
- Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Gary Greene Expands to 25 Sales Offices Around Houston with Conroe, Fairfield Additions [HBJ]
- Armadillo Palace Expands to 4,000 SF Texas Dance Hall-Style Venue [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]
- Food Truck Luv Me Tenders Opening Brick and Mortar Next Week at Crosstimbers and Yale [Eater Houston]
- Councilman Calls for Designating Bellaire/Dai Lo Saigon from Turtlewood to Cook Road ‘Little Saigon District’ [Houston Chronicle]
- Harris County Flood Victims Eligible for FEMA Aid for May and June Storms [Houston Chronicle]
- Lead Architects Picked for Obama Presidential Center in Chicago [Obama Foundation]
Photo of Satellite Bar: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool
Headlines
Swamplot’s Daily Demolition Report lists buildings that received City of Houston demolition permits the previous weekday.
All done up then all torn down.
- 902 Marshall St. [HAR]
WHAT THE HISTORIC FREEDMEN’S TOWN ACROSS THE TRACKS FROM THE WOODLANDS LOOKS LIKE TODAY 
Houston-based photographer Marti Corn’s newly-published book The Ground on Which I Stand documents the history and visuals of Tamina, an unincorporated community still occupied by the descendants of freed slaves who settled in the area immediately east of I-45 and the Missouri Pacific railroad from what’s now the Woodlands back in 1871. Corn tells Mark Murrmann that Tamina’s 1960s-and-70s enclosure by affluent suburbs, and the community’s complex relationship with those developments, is part of what drew her to photograph the area. The book of portraits includes stories compiled from 15 families (both relatives of original founders and late-comers to the area); collected family photos supplement Corn’s original snapshots. [Texas A&M University Press; previously on Swamplot]
WHAT MONTGOMERY COUNTY’S ROAD BOND REFERENDUM SCANDAL COULD COST 
In the wake of last week’s indictment of 2 Montgomery County commissioners, a county judge, and a political consultant married to the county treasurer, Judge Craig Doyal has been suspended without pay this week, though the involved commissioners are allowed to keep serving for now. If the group is convicted of violating the Texas Open Meetings Act (having allegedly held closed-door sessions about a $280 million county road bond referendum that voters approved last year), the commissioners may be removed as well, writes Andrew Schneider this morning. University of Houston political science professor Brandon Rottinghaus tells Schneider that the case, convictions or no, could also have broader implications for the county: “If the perception is that the government can’t handle it, then the voters may lose faith in the individuals involved, and [in the future] decide to simply not vote in favor of [these kinds of] bonds.†Schneider reports that upcoming funding needs for Montgomery county road projects are estimated at around $6 billion. [Houston Public Media] Photo of Alan B. Sadler Commissioners’ Court Building at 501 N. Thompson St. in Conroe: Montgomery County Attorney’s Office
COMMENT OF THE DAY: FIBERGLASS PEAR TRAIL JUST FOLLOWING IN PEARLAND’S HISTORIC FRUIT FAKEOUT FOOTSTEPS 
“The only relationship that pears have to Pearland is that the early developers were trying to entice people to move to the area by claiming that there were pear orchards. (But there is a Figland St. in Pearland.)” [marmer, commenting on Re-Pearing the Pearland Brand] Illustration: Lulu
Most of the square box just left of center in the above photo was officially leased by Amazon yesterday, reports Cara Smith for the HBJ. The deal is for roughly 100,000 sq.ft. in the Beltway Crossing Northwest business park, located on the other side of 249, Greens Bayou, and an AMC Theater from Willowbrook Mall (as seen in the access map and intended eventual site plan from developer Panattoni). The agreement on the park’s Buildnig 5 was reportedly made official within 24 hours of the commissioners court’s Tuesday vote to approve a larger-than-normal tax abatement deal for a different Amazon facility — the proposed 855,000-sq.-ft. warehouse in Pinto Business Park (catty-corner across Beltway 8 and I-45 from Greenspoint Mall). But building permits naming Amazon as the occupant of the Willowbrook site at 11720 N. Gessner Rd. date back to at least 2014.
Here’s a shot of the Pinto site — the park’s 971 acres lie in place next to the Houston National Cemetery (the yet-unoccupied eastern end of which is visible on the far right in the south-facing aerial below):
Today’s Swamplot sponsor is the 3-bedroom, 3-bath home at 2822 Robinhood St. in West University. Thanks for the support!
This 2,619-sq.-ft. home began life in 1939 as a small West U cottage. A number of the updates added to it over the years — including a 2011 remodeling — are spelled out in the gallery of listing pix, including the transformation of the former front porch into a sunroom (pictured above), directly accessible from the master bedroom.
Also added: the den at the back of the house pictured in the top photo, onto which an opening from the kitchen (also redone, with white marble countertops, double ovens, and stainless steel appliances) peers. French doors from the den lead to the fenced back yard; above the den is a second-floor loft space (not included in the bedroom count), which has extra storage space and a full bath with a stacked washer-dryer set.
More pics of the home’s original portions and its improvements are available on the property website. 2822 Robinhood is listed for sale by New Leaf Real Estate, which offers unique savings programs for both sellers and buyers.
Got a remodeled gem to show off? Become a Swamplot sponsor and put it on display here.
Sponsor of the Day
SALVATION ARMY DONATION CENTER WILL SOON TAKE YOUR GLASS RECYCLING, TOO 
The first 2 of 10 planned locations for a new city-backed glass recycling pilot program will open this weekend. In the wake of the elimination of glass this March from the city’s single-stream contract with Waste Management, glass hoarder and reseller Strategic Materials is opening up a collection point at Sharpstown Park (at 6600 Harbor Town Dr., across from Sharptown Dental Clinic and the Sharpstown Country Club), and not at the Sharpstown Park Apartments on Bellaire Blvd. as accidentally initially advertised). That drop spot will be accessible during normal park hours; the company is also opening a 24-hour drop site at the Washington Ave Salvation Army Family Store  & Donation Center, across Hemphill St. from the Salvation Army Adult Rehab Center and across Washington from Darkhorse Tavern. If the first 10 spots work out, the city says that more locations could eventually be added. [City of Houston] Photo of Salvation Army Donation Center at 2208 Washington Ave: Vincent M.
- County Approves Amazon’s Tax Abatement for Warehouse in Pinto Business Park at I-45 N and Beltway 8 [HBJ]
- 123K-SF Kroger Marketplace Now Open in League City [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
- Austin Boutique Kick Pleat Joins Houston’s ‘Retailer Row’ with Store at Kirby Drive and Westheimer Road [Houston Chronicle]
- 4 Stoplights, 4 Crosswalks Being Added to Allen Parkway To Improve Pedestrian Safety [abc13; previously on Swamplot]
- 6 Things To Know About Interstates in Houston on the 60th Anniversary of the Federal Highway Act [Houston Chronicle]
Photo of Rice University: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool
Headlines
Swamplot’s Daily Demolition Report lists buildings that received City of Houston demolition permits the previous weekday.
It’s time to put these out of their misery.
